Princess of Tennis
by Ryoka Princess of Tennis
Summary: Ryoka aimed to be the best she could and that's all. When her brother and her move to Japan and go out for their school team, what'll happen? What'll happen when her old rivals come back to get her? Will her new friends be there to help her out?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, here's the first chapter. I hope you like it. Please review and tell me what you think. Please tell me what you think of Ryoka. **

Chapter 1  
>The Seigaku Regulars Make Their Debut<p>

Ryoka was beyond tired. The time zones were really messing with her head, but she couldn't fall asleep now. She had to make herself get used to it. She'd have to eventually. But thirteen hours was ridiculous. Back home in America it would have been two o' clock in the morning while it was three o' clock in the afternoon in Japan, where she was now. She had only gotten there that morning and hadn't gotten used to anything.

The shoulder length haired, brown eyed girl had just flown in from America to live with her family in Japan. Her father, mother and little brother had moved back a couple days before she had. Her cousin was also there, well actually, they were staying in the temple behind their house. Not that Ryoka minded any. Ryoka was on a team of tennis players back home that were in a very large and important tournament. Her father allowed her to stay and help out. She had been injured in one of her games and had to have some surgery. She couldn't play, but she was the Captain after all. She had to be there for them to give them pointers. She had made sure to be there for every one of their matches.

The people on her team were very good and with her help and their coach they became the best. They won the tournament and advanced into another tournament _in_ Japan. So, her coach and her seven other teammates flew to Japan with her and were staying as guests at the temple that Ryoko, her father and brother lived in and took care of.

Most of her team were exhausted and were catching up on sleep, unlike Ryoka who was walking around on her crutches. She wanted to get used to the time difference instead of sleeping. Sure she was terribly tired, but it wasn't the worst state she'd ever been in. Instead she was walking around on her crutches heading to the place she was going to be attending school after she got settled in. She also had to train for the tournament while she was in school. It was the last tournament she was going to be playing with her best friends. She was going to make it one of their best.

The school she was going to be attending was Seishun Academy like her little brother, Ryoma. He had already started school there and had been trying out for the tennis team. He was aiming to be a regular, but Ryoka had done her research. Freshman weren't even allowed to start playing until summer. But she knew her brother and how he played. He was going to go out for a regulars spot. And with his skill, he'd be able to make it, she just knew it.

Ryoka received a lot of strange looks as she made her way to the tennis courts. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she had a couple guesses why. One: she was a stranger. None of them had ever seen her there before. Two: she was on crutches and off her left foot. She was also going relatively fast for being on crutches. She just ignored it though. She was used to having people stare. She was the only girl on an all guys teen, after all. The Captain, nonetheless.

Being in the spotlight was something she had gotten used to long ago.

The girl stood next to the fenced in court and looked inside to see her little brother standing there with three other kids his age laying on the grounds. They look exhausted while Ryoma was sweating, but didn't look nearly as tired as they did. They were ordered to do fifty more sit up and the girl chuckled. That was nothing compared to what she made her teammates do. She was a part of the team too though so she had to do them too. It wouldn't have been fair otherwise.

As the freshmen all did their sit ups, Ryoka noticed two adults walk up and stop just a little ways away from her. They were all staring at the same bunch of kids. She knew they were talking about them, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She wanted to know, but it really wasn't any of her business. So she just left the whole thing alone.

"Hey, Echizen. Turn around. It's them," the kid in the green shirt holding her brothers feet said.

"Who?" Ryoma asked and he turned his head slightly to look behind him.

Three older boys walked up to the younger boys. They looked to be eighth graders. The leader looking guy of the group had long brown hair with a green sweatband over his forehead. He looked over to where Ryoma's things were resting and then turned back to the boys. She didn't like the look on his face. He wasn't someone she was going to like, she could already see that.

"Echizen, I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you just because you can play a little," he said. Okay, he had a point. Ryoka often thought her kid brother was far too cocky for his own good, but he really was _that_ good. "The regulars rock and they're coming back today. Don't worry; I'll put you in your place before they get back." Ryoka just glared at him.

"Look!" one of the other boys with Ryoma said.

Ryoka turned her head to see what the boy was talking about. Walking into the court were five older guys. Four of which were wearing long pants while the last wore grey shorts. All of them had their team jackets and their jacket bags behind them. The team jackets were blue and white with a stripe of red around the collar.

The boy standing in the front had an orange bandana on his head and a strange glare in his eyes that Ryoka wasn't very comfortable with. The furthest to his left had longer red hair and a little white band-aid on his cheek. The other person to his left had short black hair with a couple strange falling down into his forehead. The furthest to his right had longer light brown hair and a sweet smile on his lips. The other was very tall with thick black glasses and spiky black hair.

_Hmm, they're actually cuter than I thought they'd_ _be_, the girl thought. What could she say? She was a teenage girl. Guys were bound to have her attention too. Tennis was very much important to her though.

"Everyone relax," the one with short black hair – with the strands over his forehead – said. "Just find a court and start to hit. We'll give you a chance to show us your best stuff."

_That's so sweet_, Ryoka thought.

"You know that's Captain Tezuka, right?" the boy in green said. "He went totally undefeated last year."

_Tezuka's the one to beat then. He's the best_, thought the girl.

"Yeah, he's really great," the younger boy with black hair said.

"He's amazing," the other boy with short hair said.

"Hey Ōishi," the brown haired regular said to _Tezuka_. "Hey, let's you and me go out and hit some balls."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," _Ōishi_ replied. "Let's warm up before Tezuka gets here."

_Okay, so that's not Tezuka, but that doesn't mean Tezuka's still the top guy to beat_. Ryoka just shook her head. _That green shirted boy needs to get his facts straight thought. He's just embarrassing himself_. She let out a small chuckle as she head the bowled haired boy say just about the same thing she was thinking. He just got embarrassed.

Ryoka was paying more attention to those two regulars rather than her brother now. Ōishi would just hit the balls over to the other boy who would hit them back and into the basket. It was rather amusing. Their reputation preceded them. They were good; Ryoka had to give them that. She'd have to try to practice against them sometime. That was, when she had the chance to.

"What are you doing here?" Ryoma asked walking up to his sister from the other side of the fence. He too was watching the older players, but he was talking to his sister.

"What? I can't come watch you practice?" she replied. A smirk played on her lips as she knew that she got on his nerves sometimes. She liked to joke around with him and tease him, which annoyed him and kind of embarrassed the boy. It wasn't like he didn't play back at all. He was just upset that he had never won a match against her.

"Shouldn't you be icing you ankle?" he pressed.

"Shouldn't you be picking up balls?" she pushed back.

Ryoma just rolled his eyes and walked back to the court. He stood on the court and continued to watch the older players. Everyone had joined in on hitting balls into the basket. Really, they were all very good. However, Ryoma and Ryoka had been able to do that for years. Being able to direct where they wanted the ball to go was very important. That didn't make it any less impressive to see done though.

"Our team's pretty darn good alright," sweatband said. "Do you get it yet? Hey you, Echizen!" Ryoka looked over too out of habit. Her coach sometimes called her by her last name so it was a force of habit. "You may be able to hit a descent kick serve, but that doesn't guaranty you'll make the team."

"Darn," Ōishi said, catching the girl's attention again. "I shanked it."

The ball flew up high and over to where Ryoma was. Ryoka just smirked knowing very well just what her little brother was about to do. He got into his form and raised his racket back. Once the ball was in a position where he could hit it, he wacked it sending it across the fenced in court and into the basket. Due to the force he had put into it, the ball bounced out and rolled to a stop on the ground.

The rest of the regulars and everyone else stared at the boy who stood up straight and rested his racket on his shoulder. He smiled cheekily as he said, "Now that wasn't so hard." _Yup_, Ryoka thought. _And there's the cocky remark_.

Sweatband guy grabbed Ryoma by his shirt and lifted him up. Ryoka didn't like that. She was rather protective of her little brother and since their oldest adoptive brother, Ryoga was no longer around to look after them, she felt it was her job. Ryoka took a step forward despite her injured ankle and gripped the fence. Her crutches fell to the ground next to her. Sure, he may have deserved that, but that didn't mean she had to like it because she was his older sister.

"What? You think you can show off here? I'll show you. You're going to learn who's on top of the latter around here."

"What's going on guy?" a male voice asked. Ryoka turned her head once more to see a boy by the gate to get in standing there with his hands in his pants pockets. He too was wearing a Seigaku Team jacket. He had shaggy light brown hair and wore glasses. He wore a stoic expression.

"Captain," a bunch of people around them gasped. _So he's Captain Tezuka_, Ryoka thought. "Sir!"

"You can't act like this," Tezuka said, not taking his attention away from the younger boys. "I want you both of you to take ten laps."

"But you don't understand," Sweatband said. "I was just-."

"Twenty laps," he ordered.

"Uh, okay," Sweatband said nervously.

"And as far as the rest of you go, eighth and ninth graders rally. Seventh grade pick up balls."

"Yes sir," the majority of them replied.

Ōishi walked over to where the Captain was and said, "Okay, let's go."

Tezuka and Ōishi turned and walked out of the court. Ryoka still gripped the fence as she watched them walked out and turn her way. She looked back at the guy who had yelled and threatened her brother and glared. Taking in a deep breath, Ryoka let go and bent down to pick up one of her crutches. She grabbed one and turned to pick up the other, but someone was already gripping it. She straightened up and looked at the browned haired holding it.

He glanced back at Ryoma who had started his running and then back to the girl. Ryoka could tell he was a smart guy. He had figured out that the two were related. It was kind of obvious with how they looked. Both Echizen siblings had black, almost blue looking hair and brown eyes. They resembled each other greatly, although Ryoka was much more feminine looking.

"Thanks," Ryoka said, making sure he caught her double meaning in her words.

He nodded his head and handed her the crutch. Ōishi looked at the two curiously. As Tezuka stepped away from the girl and passed the girl. Ryoka smiled softly and nodded to him as if saying hello or acknowledge he was there. He nodded back and turned to follow the Captain into the school. The girl didn't take her eyes off of them until they were completely out of sight. When they were she turned her attention back to her running brother.

She waited for him to do all of his twenty laps to get his attention. She didn't want him to get in any more trouble than he already was in. When he was done, she motioned her head telling him to come over. He sighed and reluctantly went over to his older sister.

"What now?" he almost whined.

"I've got to go talk to the coach," she informed him. "Then I'm going back home."

"Go ice your ankle," Ryoma said. She could tell that he wanted her to be careful, but also wanted her to go back home so he wouldn't get embarrassed or make her even more worried about him. He knew she wasn't happy with the guy who threatened him. "I can take care of Arai on my own."

Ryoka sighed knowing that he could. "I know," she replied. "Just be careful and don't do anything you'll regret or to get you in even more trouble."

"Whatever," he replied, turning around and walking over to where the freshmen were.

Ryoka smirked and turned around. She hobbled over to the school and entered in search of where Coach Ryuzaki to ask her something very important to team. She asked someone at the office where she was and they told her she was up in one of the classrooms. So, she managed to get up the stairs and looked into a couple classrooms to see if she was in them. When she finally saw the woman in one, she balanced herself and opened the door.

The girl didn't know there were two other people in the room with her. Once she shut the door and turned around, her eyes widened in slight shock, but recovered quickly and made her way over to woman in the back of the room, watching her along with the two other boys, Tezuka and Ōishi. She stopped in from of the desk she was sitting at and stretched out her hand to shake the other woman's.

"Coach Ryuzaki," Ryoka said. "My name's Ryoka. I wanted to ask you something important."

"Ryoka," she said with a smirk. "You two look alike." Ryoka knew that Ryuzaki was referring to her and Ryoma. "What is it you want to ask?"

Ryoka cleared her throat before replying. "My team is here for a tournament," she began. "And, well, we don't have anywhere to really practice. Seeing as I'm going to be attending school here while I'm training for our tournament, I wanted to ask your permission if we could train here." She looked unsure. "We won't be a bother, really. We have our own balls, rackets, and everything. We just need a place to practice. We're not going to win the tournament if we can't actually practice. It'll also give your students a chance to play some new…_meat_, if you will."

Ryuzaki smirked at her wording. "All right," she said. "Your team may use it while school is going on as long as they don't disturb anyone. If Captain Tezuka permits it, you may scrimmage with our players." She pointed a figure at the girl as if to state a point. She knew there were conditions. "You have to help clean up afterwards though. A lot of the work with the seventh graders."

"Understood," Ryoka said with a smile. "Thank you very much. You won't be sorry."

"I hope not," she jokingly, but also truthfully stated. "Ryoka, I've heard what happened to you ankle. How are you doing?"

Ryoka didn't really know how she knew about it, seeing as the tournament was in America and they were in Japan when it happened, but she did know and there was nothing she could do about it. "I can lose the crutches tomorrow. Thanks for asking."

"Don't push yourself too hard though," Coach said. "You don't want to injure it again."

"Yes ma'am. I know," Ryoka said. "I know my limits." Tezuka looked up at the girl when Coach said mentioned her ankle. Ryoka just nodded her head at him and turned her attention back to Ryuzaki. "Thank you. We'll see you tomorrow morning."

The girl turned to hobble out of the room, but stopped at the door when she heard someone say something directed towards her. "How many of you will there be?" Tezuka asked.

Ryoka curiously looked at the boy and said, "Including me, there's eight."

"We practice before school, during lunch and after school," he informed her. "You're welcome to join us at any or all of them."

Ryoka smiled at them and said, "Thanks. We'll be sure to do that. All the practice we can fit in the better." He nodded his head at her and went back to the work he was doing. "Coach Ryuzaki, Captain Tezuka, Vice-Captain Ōishi, have a nice afternoon. We'll see you bright and early."

"Oh! One more thing!" Ryuzaki called out. Ryoka turned her attention back to the woman curiously. "The girls will be playing to see who becomes a regular on the team. You are starting school in a couple days, right?"

"Yeah," Ryoka replied. She didn't really know where the woman was going with this.

"I'll have them put your name down for brackets if you want to try out. They can use all the talent they can get," she said.

"Oh," Ryoka said with a smile. "Sure, that'd be really great. Thanks."

~*_**The Princess**_*~

Ryoka had been home for a while when Ryoma got back. She greeted him with their usual small bickering and teasing. He called her _Princess_, which she hated greatly and she called him _Junior_, which he hated just as much as Ryoka hated being called _Princess_. It wasn't uncommon at all for them to call one another that. What bothered them even more than one another calling each other them was when others called them by their teasing pet names. Every member of Ryoka's team called them by those names sometimes and they really didn't like it.

However, North Ridge Tennis Team knew better than to always call Ryoka _Princess_. She would give them a break every once in a while, but if they did it too often or went too far then she'd punish them and Ryoka's form of punishment wasn't pleasant, but overall, it was beneficial to the team. She'd either make them work out more or rally against her, which was never pleasant because she loved to toy with the members of her team. They sometimes even called her _Minx_ for how she teased and played with them during their matches. That didn't mean she liked that one either though.

"Hey Ryoka?" Mark called out.

"Yeah," the girl replied, not moving from her spot. She was reading a magazine about tennis and found a very interesting story that she just couldn't get away from. But she put the magazine down on her lap and looked up to the Assistant Captain of the tennis team she was on. "What's up?"

"Where were you earlier?" he asked. Mark plopped himself down on the ground next to her and looked out at the grounds of the temple. "When we woke up, you were gone."

"I want to get us a place to train," she replied, looking back down at the article and started to read from the place she left off on. "We're going for a six a.m. run tomorrow so be rested and ready. Tell the guys too, will you?"

"Six in the morning?" he whined. "But-!"

"No buts," the girl pressed. "You want to be ready to the tournament, don't you?"

"Yeah," Mark admitted.

"Well then we need to get in as much practice in as we can," Ryoka admitted. The black haired girl stood up with her crutches and started to walk down the hall, Mark following right behind her. "Plus, South Ridge made it into the second spot."

"_They_ made it in?" Mark gasped. "But how? I mean, they-."

"Things have a funny way of going about," she replied. "In this case it's not very good for us, but that just means we have to work harder to beat them again and get back for what they did."

"You've got that right," Mark muttered. "I'll tell the others about practice. You just go and get some rest. I can tell you're tired."

"Thanks," Ryoka said with a kind and tired smile. "See you guy in the morning."

~*_**The Princess**_*~

Ryoka had a hard time falling asleep that night. It wasn't that she was in pain from her ankle. It wasn't because she was restless and couldn't hold still. It wasn't because she was worried about waking up that next morning for practice or dreading the fact that she had to. No, it wasn't as _complicated_ or as _simple_ as that.

No, what was bothering her was that the team that had caused her injured ankle. The South Ridge Tennis Team was from back in the States, like their team was. They were in the same city too. There were two teams from their city and their rivalry was a very stiff, strict and a much hated one. Nobody dared to get in the way of the two teams when they were going at each other.

However, ever since Ryoka took over as Captain of the team, she made sure that North Ridge stayed as far away from South Ridge as possible. She wouldn't let them get anywhere near one another unless it was for a tournament and if they did, she'd turn it into a match and then make her team do a very strict and harsh punishing workout. She wanted no fighting, no arguing and a clean record. She wanted to kill them with being kind to them. She'd take anything they threw at her and her team. They didn't like that. And they made sure to get back at the girl who angered them so.

Ryoka was a tough, strong willed girl who would do anything for those who were closest to her. She stood up for them. She took all the blame whenever something did happen and made sure that her team knew she did so they would feel bad about _her_ getting in trouble for what _they_ did. And that worked. They tried to stay away from South Ridge as much as humanly possible and started to take up Ryoka's form of torture.

The kind that was only one sided. North Ridge was nothing but nice to them. And they really, really didn't like that. And they took it out on Ryoka for it being her idea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's chapter two. I've actually had this done for a while, but I was waiting to see if anyone reviewed...Yeah nobody did. That doesn't make me feel great, but it was bothering me not having this updated fo here it is.  
>Now please, REVIEW!<strong>

Chapter 2  
>The One Named Viper<p>

Being the good and respectful team the North Ridge players were, they got up early their Captain had instructed all ready to go to where it was they'd be training with their rackets and balls. They were changed into their shorts under their sweat pants and their black and red jackets with North Ridge written on the back. Ryoka's had Captain written on her jacket while Mark had Assistant Captain written on his.

Ryoka had dressed herself in her black skort and her crimson red tank top to keep cool as they worked out. Over her shirt was her jacket. She didn't usually keep it on for long though since she didn't like to advertise she was the Captain of North Ridge and she'd get warm. She didn't want any special treatment for being the Captain and most skilled member of the team. Although, people did treat her differently because she was the only girl playing with all boys. But she liked proving them wrong in that sense. Her shoulder length black hair was pulled back and through the little hole in the back of her black hat. The hat was mostly all black, but had a little symbol on the front with an "R" on it. Her brother had one just like it, but it was white.

She also had her black tennis bag with a couple of her tennis rackets and one of her other pair of shoes. She had two different pairs of sneakers that she'd wear for practices. Usually in practices, she'd wear her all black one. They had ten pound weights build into them. She had them made specifically so she could learn to make her legs stronger and to make her faster. The other pair was completely white and just really good running sneakers. She'd wear those during matches to make herself faster.

Seeing as they were all ready to go right away that morning, Ryoka didn't make them run all the way to the school. She did make them stretch thought. It was rather early and a little cool out so she didn't want any of them pulling anything on their walk there. Plus, it was her first day off of the crutches. She had to make sure she loosened it up enough so she wouldn't twist it or injure it in any way again.

Once they all got to the courts at Seishun Academy, Ryoka took off her jacket and noticed that they were the first ones there. So, maybe they didn't need to get up as early as she made them, but at least she could not see what time morning practice actually started. And that gave them a little more alone time on the courts. However, there was one problem with them being alone. The nets weren't up yet and Ryoka had to put them up herself. That was a little annoying. She was the only one of her team they knew how to do it so she had to put all of them up herself. She made sure to show them how to do it.

Fortunately, some of the other students came and started to help her put them up. Ryoka had her team stretch while she, the other girls and the seventh graders put them up. She noticed some of them were the ones with Ryoma the day before. Everyone, not just the seventh graders were staring at the strangers on their courts. They weren't disturbing anyone though. They were just in one corner stretching.

"What are you doing here again?" Ryoma asked walking up to his older sister.

She had seen him from the corner of her eye as she got up after stretching with her team and instructing them to start running around the outside of the courts. She had seen the bracket boards when they got there and assumed they were playing to see who was going to become regulars today. She didn't want to get in the way so it was going to be a running morning until they had to go in for classes. Then they'd play until they went out for lunch or after school.

Ryoma had been standing with four of his seventh grade friends, the ones from the day before. An older boy, the one with the bandana and that scary glare in his eyes had walked up beside him and scared away his friends. Ryoka couldn't help but giggle at that. He couldn't have been that scary, could he? He walked away though which was when Ryoma walked over to his sister.

"You must really not like my being here," Ryoka laughed. The rest of her team ran by her to go start their run. "Come on, you know you love having me around, _Junior_."

"Go ice your ankle, _Princess_," Ryoma said. He started to walk away, but he only took a couple steps passed the girl before turning around and facing her. "What _are_ you doing here?"

Ryoka shrugged and took a couple steps towards her younger brother. She leaned forward a little to get eye level with him. A smirk played at her lips. "I've got permission," she offered. "Don't worry, I'm not just crashing. We needed a place to practice and Coach Ryuzaki said we could practice here. Even Captain Tezuka said we could practice with you." She stood back up straight as her brother rolled him eyes. "Plus, I'm trying out for Seigaku's female tennis team."

"That means I have to see more of you," he sighed.

"I'm hurt, _Junior_," she joked. Ryoka hit the brim of his hat and forced it down over his eyes. "I've got to get running, but good luck with your matches today. Maybe I'll take a break and watch one of them."

"Whatever," he muttered as he turned around, fixing his hat.

Ryoka just smirked and ran off the court, getting a couple funny looks from people. What? She was just talking to a seventh grader. What was so weird about that? She just shrugged it off and sprinted to catch up to the rest of her team. She passed a couple regulars who stared at the abnormally fast teenage girl go by. She just rolled her eyes. This was going to take a little getting used to. Sure she was used to people staring, but not like this. She wasn't used to people looking at her like that because she was new. More because she was who she was.

The girl looked down at her watch to make sure she had enough time before she had to go to her match at the girl's court. She had looked it up before she had started setting everything else, just as she had looked up her brother's matches.

Ōishi was one of the people she noticed as she started to run closer to her team. He smiled and her and stepped out into her path, but left her enough time to stop and not run into him. Although, she did have very good reflexes. She would have been able to stop on a dime. But he didn't know that. Nobody there except her brother and her team knew what she was capable of.

"Hi Vice-Captain," Ryoka greeted. "It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise," he said with a smile. "And please, call me Ōishi. I have a message from Tezuka for you. He'd like to apologize for not informing you that today you wouldn't really be able to use the courts."

"Oh," Ryoka said a little shocked. "There's no need to be sorry. You guys letting us practice here is already so much. Whatever you guys plan is perfectly fine. It's your turf in the first place. Plus, I've trying out for the girls' team."

That was when Ryoka noticed the guy beside Ōishi. He was a regular, shown by his jacket. He was very tall, towering over the girl by a great deal. He had thick black glasses over his eyes and a glare in them that prevented her from seeing what color his eyes were. His black hair was naturally spiking in all directions. He held a little book in one of his hands while he wrote with a pen in the other.

"Oh," Ōishi said. "This is Inui Sadaharu. He's a third year regular for the team."

Ryoka stuck out her hand to shake the taller, older male's hand. "Hi, I'm Ryoka. Member of North Ridge Tennis Team from the States."

"It is nice to meet you," he said.

"Likewise," Ryoka said. She looked behind her to see her team coming around from their first lap. "Well, I should get back to the team, but maybe I'll see you guys later."

They all said their quick good-byes. Ryoka joined her team as they came passed her and took her place in the back with Mark. Mark and Ryoka usually were in the back to order the pace they were to go. However, it was a little weird when she got with the group. Almost everyone was staring at her with smirks one their faces.

She looked at them a little confused and scared. "What?" she asked.

"You're a lap down," Mark stated.

"We all run the same amount, right?" Chris replied.

Ryoka rolled her eyes at the group. "Okay," she said. "I'll go around another time. Happy?"

"No," Paul said. "We want you to make it around before we finish this lap, _Princess_."

The girl sighed, but went along with it. She also let slip his little name calling. Usually, they got one freebie a day. If he called her that again she'd have to do something about it. Paul was also one of those people on the team who repeatedly called her that though. He had to do a lot of things to make up for that too. She made sure he did it too.

Ryoka quickly pulled away from the group and sped up her pace. If she wanted to get around before they finished their lap and join them again, she had to go fast. It wasn't a problem for her though. Ryoka didn't just run during practices. She ran every morning and at night in her weighted shoes to make her as fast as she could be. She was already a naturally speedy little thing, but with her determination and training, she was like a bullet.

The girl passed a couple of kids watching her brother stretch before his match. However, when they saw it was the girl Ryoma kept talking too, they turned and watched her speed by. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at them. What was the big deal? She was just a girl running by. She saw nothing impressive about it. It wasn't like she was going the fastest she could go nor was it the fastest she wanted to become. She wanted to be much, much better than she was now.

When Ryoka finally did catch up to her team, only moments later, her watch started beeping. Mark looked at her strangely and she just smile and gave a small laugh. Her laugh got the attention of the rest of the players on her team. They looked back at her as she stopped and stopped the alarm on the watch.

"What's up?" Mark asked.

"I've got a match," she informed them. She started to walk in the direction her bag was, but turned and looked back at her friends as she did so. "Wish me luck!"

"Like you need it!" Dustin yelled.

It was true. Ryoka didn't really need their luck, but it was nice to know she had their support. She could have the whole stadium – if that was the case – rooting against her and she could still win, but it was nice to know, inside, that there was someone there rooting for her. It was just nice to have people care and support her. It wasn't every day she had people watching her and wanting her to win. The tournaments she went to were usually on her own. Her brother would often go with her, but of course, he wasn't one to really "_cheer people on_."

Every player had to stand out there on the tennis courts by themselves –even if it was a doubles match – no one was there to help them. But sometimes, just hearing, seeing and feeling those people cheer for them out there was enough. It could make the weakest people stronger and the strongest people even more powerful, driven and devoted. It gave them that little extra something that they needed. Especially when one struggles in a match.

Nanjiro, their father, wasn't one to go to their games either. Really, he wasn't one to do anything other than pick on their cat, ready dirty old man magazines that were degrading to woman, and flirting. Although, he did play a lot of tennis against his kids. He toyed with them, that was how Ryoka learned how to toy with her pray. Learn learned almost everything from her father, but she also took things and changed them up to make them her own. So she had her own kind of style along with being able to copy those around her. She had a very keep eye.

Ryoka final got to the courts and took out her racket. She stretched her neck and walked out there like it was her home court. Which they did have. Her father built one at the temple without asking the Monk he was stepping in for. She was going to be out there all day when she'd get home and finished her homework. She'd be out there all night too. She loved the game too much to not be out there as much as she could.

"Are you Ryoka?" a girl with long red hair asked as Ryoka made her way out onto the court with her tennis racket in hand.

"Yeah," Ryoka replied.

"My names Yuri Leilita. I'm a third year and the Captain of the girls Seigaku Tennis Club," Yuri introduced.

"It's nice to meet you." The black haired girl stuck out her hand to offer to shake, but the other girl just looked at it and glared. _Okay_, Ryoka thought. Her hand fell back to her side.

"Listen up," she stated with venom seeping out of her voice. "The only reason we're letting you try out is because Coach Ryuzaki asked us to let you. But here's the thing. We've already finished with tryouts. So the only way for you to join is to beat me. Got it?"

_I didn't know they'd be so snobby_, Ryoka thought. "I understand," Ryoka said calmly. "Are you warmed up?"

"Of course I am!" she yelled angrily. "Who do you take me for?"

Ryoka looked at the girl with an eyebrow raised a little confused. It was only a question. She wanted to make sure she was. Otherwise she was going to give her time to warm up. It wasn't like she wanted her to get hurt or anything. That wouldn't sure the team any good. "It was only a question," Ryoka stated.

"Get ready to be beaten, Eighth Grader," the Captain said.

_That's what you think, Ninth Grader_, Ryoka thought, taking her place on the other side of the court.

**~***_**The Princess**_***~**

Ryoka sighed as she saw that every one of her team mated were just standing around, watching Ryoma go against one of the regulars. The match hadn't started yet. Ryoka had made it just in time to see it. But that still didn't make her feel any better about her team slacking off. She walked up behind them, crossed her arms and frowned. The girl cleared her throat to get their attention.

Each and every one of North Ridge Tennis Team jumped and slowly turned around to see the girl standing there looking rather annoyed. They exchanged looks with one another unsure of what she was going to do.

"Hey Ryoka," Mark said a little nervously. "How was the match?"

It seemed as if Ryoka was in a rather bad mood. If she had caught them doing that before, she would have been mad and annoyed, but this was even worse. Something else was up. She had gone to play a match, maybe she didn't do so well. There were two things that always got to the girl. One: when she lost a match. Or two: when people thought they were too good and didn't play seriously. He didn't know which one was bothering her, but something was bothering her other than them not working out.

Ryoka just shook her head. "The girl's court is open. Go practice there."

"Sure Captain," Dustin said.

North Ridge walked off while Ryoka stepped forward closer to the fence around the court to watch the game. She did tell her brother she'd try to make it to watch one of his games and this was the last game of the day. This was her last chance to see him play against someone other than their dad for the day.

The angle Ryoka was at wasn't a very good one to see the match so she moved to a little closer. She realized those two boys Ryoma hung out with were a couple steps away. There was another guy standing behind them. He looked like he was in eighth grade like Ryoka. He was much taller than the girl though. She was about ten cm shorter than he was. He had spiky black hair and he had odd eyes. They were purple. Ryoka found them rather interesting though. He was also wearing a Regular's Seigaku jacket.

Ryoka placed her tennis bag and her jacket which she hadn't been wearing all day on the ground in front of her and off of her back. She wasn't paying much attention to the people next to her, but she kept her ears open to see if they shot out any valuable information about the guy Ryoma was playing against. The more she knew about the people her brother was going to be hanging out with the better. It was the protective older sister side to her. She couldn't help it.

"_This is the best of one set match_," the ref said. "_Service Echizen_."

Ryoma was starting off using his right hand, just as Ryoka usually did. However, Ryoka almost never used her left hand against someone unless she absolutely had to. She usually used it against her brother and her father though so she could keep it in shape. It was her dominant hand though. Most of the time she was just using her right hand to try to get that one up to par with the left. Not many people knew that though.

"_15- Love_," the ref called.

Ryoma had gotten the point only after the ball had hit the net and fallen back onto the other opponent's side. Ryoka still didn't know his name yet, but she figured she'd find out by listening to the other people next to her. They seemed like a little chatty bunch. Ryoma picked up his hat that had fallen off and walked back to the baseline. Once again, he got ready to serve.

"By that was lucky," Green Shirt said.

"One blink and you would have missed it completely," black haired boy said astonished

Ryoka wouldn't have. She had very good eyesight. She could follow the almost anywhere. It sometimes was a curse though. It all depended on who you were going against. It also gave her a grave headache sometimes.

"If he keeps this up, he'll win," tallest boy said. "I know it!"

"You forget," Green said. "Kaidō uses that trick shot that Echizen doesn't know about yet."

_Trick shot?_ Ryoka asked herself. Ryoka smirked. _This'll be more interesting than I thought it would be. Kaidō, give him all you've got. He needs someone that'll challenge him other than me and dad. _

Kaidō could be heard hissing. Ryoka raised an eyebrow. Why in the world was he hissing? It was just weird. He wasn't a snake.

Ryoma served. Kaidō hissed. Ryoka sighed. "That's just annoying," she muttered to herself.

"What's annoying?" Black haired boy asked the girl.

Ryoka looked over at the group slightly surprised they acknowledged her. "The hissing," she replied. "It's annoying. It's not as bad as one guy I know. Every time he hits the ball he goes, 'HA!' It's really obnoxious."

"Who are you?" Green shirt boy asked. Ryoka just smirked and shook her head, pulling the brim of her hat down further over her eyes. It was a little habit she picked up from her brother after seeing him do it too many times.

Everyone turned their attention back to the match that was taking place. Kaidō was standing with his legs stretched apart with his arms slumped as Ryoma ran to return the ball. _That stance_, Ryoka thought. The girl's brown eyes narrowed knowing very well what that stance was for. She had seen it some many times when she watched professionals play on TV and in person.

Ryoma returned the ball and Kaidō let out a mix between and laugh and a hiss. That kind of annoyed the girl, but she just rolled her eyes and kept paying close attention to the match.

"Ryoma, you rule!" Short haired boy cheered.

"I wouldn't be cheering yet," Ryoka muttered knowing they could hear her.

All three freshmen gasped. "He's going to do his trick shot!" Black haired boy gasped.

As the ball came down, Kaidō shifted his weight from his right leg to his left, then he swung. Ryoka could tell he was hitting it as hard as he could, just like she had seen before, putting a lot of spin on the ball. So when it went back to the other side of the court, it curved to the corner of the court. Ryoma missed the shot.

"_15 all_!"

"That shot," Green said. "It's the one we saw in the video."

"You're right," Black haired boy said while the other boy silently agreed.

"That's Kaidō's Snake Shot," the Regular informed them.

"You mean," Short haired said.

"That's what he calls it?" Green asked.

"So that's why he hisses," Black hair said.

_That explains it_.

"Yup, and only someone like Kaidō can do it because of his long reach," Regular replied. The Regular started to explain what the Snake Shot was to the younger members of the club. "It's a very tricky shot, but that's the Viper." The kids stared up at him astonished. Ryoka was glancing over at the guy. "Sneaky, always hissing. He's a snake, totally. He probably sleeps all coiled up."

"That's a little extreme to say," Ryoka said with a small laugh.

"So that's the angle he uses for his shot," Ryoma said with a small cocky smile. "Ha, you still have a ways to go." He switched his hand, right to left. "Time to kill a Viper."

"He's using his left hand finally," Ryoka said smirking.

"That means Kaidō's really in for it now," Regular said.

Ryoma served. Kaidō returned it. Ryoma, Kaidō, Ryoma, Kaidō. He sent it back with a Snake Shot. Ryoma went to get it. He managed to make contact with the ball and send it back over, but he had almost missed it. However, it went out.

"_Out_!"

Ryoma couldn't help but chuckle as she saw what he was trying to do. Leave it to her little brother to start learning new moves on an opponent he had never gone up against before. Sure, he tried to do it against her and their father all the time, but against this Kaidō guy? She just found it rather humorous and couldn't help but laugh.

"Echizen returned that shot," Green shirt said.

"It didn't work," Ryoma muttered.

"Awesome," Green continued to say. "This is really, really close."

Apparently Kaidō heard what the kids said and turned to glare at him. The three younger kids stiffened and cringed with fear.

"What a great guy!" Regular said with a smile on his face.

"Stop he might hear you," Black haired kid said.

Ryoka found that group rather amusing. She giggled slightly at their actions and pulled her hat down a little further. "I could get used to it here," she muttered.

"Who are you?" the three kids asked.

She just laughed again.

_**~*The Princess*~**_

Game to Kaidō. Game to Echizen. The score was tied at one-one. Ryoma was keeping up with one of Seigaku's regular players. One of their best. A lot of people were watching the game including most of the Seigaku Girl's Tennis Club. Most of them were impressed with the seventh grader. Everyone was impressed with the seventh grader. Everyone except his older sister who stood watching.

Ryoka had taken her hat off, put kept her shoulder length hair pulled back and started to fan herself with it. It was a hot day and just standing there was warm. She was glad her match had gone quickly so she wouldn't have had to play in that heat. Although, the outcome wouldn't have been any different than it had been.

"Look out! Here comes the Snake Shot!" Green shirt yelled. Ryoma returned the ball. "He got to it!"

"Ryoma has good footwork," Ryoka told the people next to her. "He can return it."

"Ryoma's returning every single ball," Short haired boy said.

"He may have a chance after all," Black haired kid said.

"May?" Ryoka asked, taking her eyes off the game and over to the kids. "Ryoma's got this." It may have sounded as if she had too much confidence in him, but she could usually predict the outcome of things very well. Ryoma had this match. "Kaidō's going to lose. With Ryoma's speed, footwork, accuracy and stamina, the match is all his and he knows it."

"Who are you?" the kids yelled at the girl again.

"Not again!" Regular complained, getting the kids attention away from the girl. "Echizen fell right into the Viper's secret trap."

That caught the girl's attention ever though she was pretty sure she knew what he mean. Hadn't she just said his stamina was great? Some people just never listen. Was it because she was a girl? Or did people just ignore her only?

"A what?" the kids asked.

"A trap," he repeated. "The Viper uses the Snake Shot as a trick. What he's really up to is, is he's…" Why was he pausing for dramatic affect?

"I got it," Green shirt said. "He has to chase after those Snake Shots and it's totally dehydrating him.

"You got it," Regular said. "Viper's style is to keep tormenting his exhausted opponent."

"The more balls Ryoma returns, the more exhausted he becomes," Green stated.

"Ryoma can't keep this up," Tallest said.

"_40- Love_!"

"You sure know a lot about his game, Momoshiro," Tallest said.

"You can say that again," Black hair muttered.

"I've got it," Green said, turning his attention to Momoshiro, the Regular. "You must have lost to the Viper that way."

Ryoka burst out laughing at that accusation. "Shut up you little seventh graders and watch the game!" By his reaction they were spot on and Ryoka found that very humorous. Momoshiro smooshed the kids heads' together annoyed at them. That just made her laugh more.

"Ryoma may be tired, but that's not going to stop him," Ryoka told them, making Momoshiro let go of the kids and look at her, then turn his attention back to the match. "Just wait and see. He's got this."  
>"Who are you?" the kids and Momoshiro yelled.<p>

Ryoka just chuckled and put her hat back on her head, pulling her ponytail through the back of it and pulling the brim of it down. "I'm just a girl," she muttered with a smirk. "That's all you need to know."

"How do you know so much about Ryoma?" Green asked. "Did you lose to him?"

Ryoka just smirk again. "Me? Lose to _Junior_ out there? You've got to be kidding me."

"Who are you?" they yelled again.

"Nobody of importance," she replied. "But using the snake shot it is a little cruel to use on a seventh grader if you ask me. Sure, it's Ryoma, but still. What if he wasn't as good as he is? That's just cruel."

"Like you should be talking," a male voice said from behind Ryoka. The girl turned to see Mark standing there with his hands in his North Ridge Tennis Team jacket. "From what I've seen, you're even worse than that guy. They don't call you _Minx_ for nothing."

Now, Ryoka had been speaking Japanese to the other people next to her and English to her American team seeing as neither of them understood the other language. Everyone except for Mark who was a Navy Brat. He had lived in Japan before could speak and understand the language. He hadn't lived there long enough to know how to write or read the language, but he could understand it. So he was speaking in Japanese during that confrontation.

Ryoka just smirked and pulled the brim of her hat down. He was absolutely correct though. "Shut up, Mark. Shouldn't you be at practice? You don't want to have to run more laps now, do you?"

"The guys just wanted me to see when you were coming back," Mark said.

"I'll be there in a minute," Ryoka said.

"I can tell them you want to watch him play," Mark said. "After all…"

Ryoka but in not wanting him to tell the people next to her that she was either the Captain of North Ridge or that Ryoma was her brother. If she had wanted them to tell, then she would have told them herself. She found it kind of amusing how annoyed they were with not knowing who she was.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ryoka muttered. She bent down and pulled her tennis bag over her shoulder and held her team jacket in her hands. The girl turned her attention to the guys on the Seigaku team. "Catch you guys later," she said. "But just remember, Ryoma's gonna win and I can guarantee that it'll be a huge shock on what he uses to it!"

_**~*The Princess*~**_

After instructing the North Ridge team what to do during their practice, Ryoka ended practice early since everyone was still a little Jet lagged. Before they left though, she made them help her clean the court up. That had been one of the conditions of letting them practice there after all. They left on their own though. Ryoka split off and went back to the other court where her brother had been playing at.

Ryoka had her jacket back on as she walked back to the courts. When she got there, she leaned up against the frame of the door into the courts as she watched her little brother swept the court as the other three kids just stood there talking. She just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she listened to them talking.

"I had faith," Green shirt said. "I always believed that Echizen could beat Kaidō."

"Horiō, you're always changing your story," Black haired kid said.

"I was so impressed with Ryoma," Short haired guy said. "I'm sure he'll be a starter. How lucky."

"But who knows," Horiō said. "Kaidō's an eighth grader, but Ryoma's next opponent is a ninth grade regular, Inui. Even Echizen won't be able to…"

"Ryoma's gonna win!" Black haired boy said.

"Hey, don't get so angry!" Horiō said.

"Look, it's no big deal," Ryoma said. "Let's just finish cleaning up."

The two boys that Ryoka didn't know the name of ran over to Ryoma. "Hey Ryoma! You've been practicing with a couch since you were a baby, right?"

"Have you ever lost in a tournament when it really counts?" Tallest boy asked.

"I'm losing all the time," he muttered as he went back to work. Ryoka just laughed at that. It was the truth. He always lost to his father and older sister all the time.

"Quite teasing us," Short, black haired boy said. "You want to be a professional player some day, isn't that right?"

"Not really," Ryoma replied in a rather bored manner.

"Now way! Don't say that," he said again.

"Ryoma, you're good enough to make it as a professional!" the taller boy added.

"Not interested," Ryoma lazily said.

"What but why?" they both asked.

Ryoka looked up at them and waited to see their reaction to his response.

"Well, then why do you bother even play?" Horiō asked. When he didn't respond he called back, "Hey Echizen!"

Ryoka just laughed as they never did get a reply. However, her making noise caught their attention and got them to run over to her. She looked up at them with a raised eyebrow. "What?" she asked.

"Who are you?" they yelled.

"Who are you?" she retorted, honestly wanting to know so she could stop calling them tall kid/short hair and short kid/black hair.

"Tell us who you are before we tell you who we are," Horiō said.

"I know who you are, Horiō. I don't know who they are though. And I'm not telling until you tell me," she replied. She continued to stand there in silence as she waited for them to tell her. She wasn't going to give in. Her will power was too great. If she had to, she wouldn't tell them who she was for a couple days, weeks even until she found out who they were.

"I'm Katō Kachirō," the short kid with black hair said.

"My name's Mizuno Katsuo," the other boy replied.

The girl smirk in triumph. "I'm Ryoka," she replied.

"Last name?" Horiō pressed.

"Why do you need to know that?" she asked innocently. "I just go by Ryoka, right _Junior_?" she called out to Ryoma.

"Go ice your ankle, _Princess_!" Ryoma yelled back annoyed.

Ryoka's ankle was bothering her a little. She had been on it all day and really did need to ice it to make the swelling go down a little. She knew the first day would be one of the worst days back on it. It was going to be a while before it went back to normal. It was going to annoy the crap out of her though. She didn't like not being up to par.

The three other looked at one another confused, but just shrugged and went back to work. Ryoka continued to stand there waiting for them to get done so her and her brother could go home. She smirked as she stood there though.

_This place's interesting. I know I'm going to like it here_, Ryoka thought.


End file.
